First period after giving birth...

[JDub]

I did a search and couldn't find the answers I was looking for. My apologies if I missed a thread somewhere.


How do you actually know it has started for sure? I bled for about six weeks, then it came down to pretty much nothing and was kind of brownish(like when a period is finishing up). Then suddenly one day I had a really heavy flow of bright red. Occasionally I will actually feel it gush out all at once and pretty much fill my pad. When this bleeding started, I went ahead and started my BC pill the following Sunday. It's now been about a week and a half and it hasn't slowed down. Was it actually my period? Should I have started the pills? My daughter is 8 1/2 weeks.

What I want to know is---how long did your first period last the first time around? (I don't breast feed) I talked to my niece-in-law the other day and said it was still going after a week, and she was not surprised. I was going to ask her how long hers was, but we had to end the conversation.

[corrie23]

Well, it would help to know if you were BFing. If you are, I would be highly surprised if you had you period at 8 weeks post partum. If you're not, I'm not really sure what is the norm. I exclusively BF'd DD for 7.5 months (before adding any other food that is) and then continued BFing along with baby food and such after that. I didn't get my first period until she was 11 mos. old (she was still nursing at night) and as I recall, it was slightly heavier and lasted longer than my periods had for the year or so before I was pg, but was comparable to other periods I'd had in the past.

If you're concerned (and this is coming directly from someone who hemmoraged twice post-partum so I ere on the side of caution when it comes to bleeding,) call your OB, or midwife, or whomever.

I hope you find answers soon!

-Corrie

[aliceinwonderland]

I was(still am ) BF-ing my son, but got it 3 months post partum. Very early they say, but not uncommon.

[toomanystrollers]

I would suggest calling your OB. The heavy flow & gushing concerns me.

Keep us updated.

[egoldber]

If you are not breastfeeding it could indeed be your first period. But if you are still bleeding this heavily for this long, then I would definitely call your OB ASAP!!

[Saartje]

Contact your OB. It's normal to bleed a while after your baby is born, usually around six weeks, but suddenly starting to gush doesn't sound good.

[miki]

Call your OB/midwife. When I was a few weeks post partum, I was in the shower and blood started gushing out. The blood was not bright bright red and I did not feel faint. My OB said it was due to blood accumulating in the uterus. He said if I had been bleeding from some aspect of labor, the blood would have been really bright red and I probably would have fainted from losing so much blood that fast.